With nine consecutive spring training wins, are the Marlins showing what they could be?
The Miami Marlins have showcased over the past 10-day stretch of spring training what they can look like when everything is working.
Following Sunday’s 4-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium, the Marlins have now won nine consecutive games, outscoring opponents 63-28 in that span heading into the final week of camp.
They rode a no-hitter into the ninth inning on Sunday, led in large part by another solid performance from starting pitcher Trevor Richards (6 innings, six strikeouts, no walks). They also had a perfect game heading into the eighth inning earlier in the streak fueled by Pablo Lopez and Wei-Yin Chen.
There have been flashes from the starting pitching. There has been consistency at the plate.
The question remains: Will we see the Miami Marlins of the last 10 days once the regular season gets underway on March 28?
“We don’t want these guys thinking this is spring training anymore,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “It’s compete time.”
The Marlins have competed as of late. And even though spring training stats become arbitrary once the regular season begins, the Marlins have had a handful of standouts in this stretch.
Let’s start with the pitching — specifically, three young pitchers competing for roster spots.
Richards has not given up a run in his last two starts, striking out 12 and giving up just two hits over the last 11 innings. His change-up is dangerous against both left- and right-handed hitters. Richards has improved command on his fastball and looks more comfortable throwing both his curveball and cutter, which were added this spring.
“I feel good,” Richards said. “The pitches are coming along nicely. I feel good throwing all four throughout the course of a game. Towards the end of spring training here, I’m going out there to attack hitters. I’m pitching for a spot.”
Pablo Lopez has given up just two earned runs all spring and threw four perfect innings against the Washington Nationals on March 9. Caleb Smith, who makes his first spring training start on Monday, threw four perfect relief innings in his debut on Wednesday.
On the other side, the Marlins are showing steady production at the plate. Marlins position players who are either locks for the 25-man roster or competing to be with the major league team on opening day are hitting .335 over the last nine games.
Veterans such as JT Riddle, Martin Prado and Curtis Granderson that opened spring training in hitting slumps are beginning to turn around. Riddle has seven hits over his last five games. Prado has seven over his last three. Granderson is 3 for his last 13 after opening spring with an 0 for 10 mark.
“I think you see Curtis kind of took a little time,” Mattingly said. “Once you see the at-bats start coming, you see he looks a little sharper. Martin’s the same way. He looks sharper. Riddle early on was rushing out there, trying to get used to the velocity again. All of a sudden, he’s starting to look good, too.”
With one more week of spring training and seven Grapefruit League games remaining, Mattingly said the focus now is on fine-tuning to get the roster to its maximum potential before Opening Day.
At-bats need to remain steady. Pitchers need to get locked into their schedules.
And the handful of players still on the bubble for a spot on the 25-man roster have a few chances left to show what they bring to the team.
“We’ll just let it play out,” Mattingly said. “Let guys keep playing and guys keep pitching.”
This story was originally published March 17, 2019 at 5:10 PM.
.JPG)